B Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with B. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“But, after all, the real specialist on Cannibalism is the Cannibal. Nobody could be more swiftly and splendidly on the spot than he is, when there is any Cannibalism going forward. The objection to the Cannibal as a judge of Cannibalism is not that he is ignorant of Cannibalism, or remote from Cannibalism, or not on the spot as a specialist in Cannibalism. It is that he is just the least tiny little bit biased.”
Source: Avowals and Denials - A Book of Essays
“But after all we are not children, not illiterate juvenile delinquents, not English public school boys who after a night of homosexual romps have to endure the paradox of reading the Ancients in expurgated versions.”
“But after all, what is our present state?
’Tis bad, and may be better—all men’s lot:
Most men are slaves, none more so than the great,
To their own whims and passions, and what not;
Society itself, which should create
Kindness, destroys what little we had got:
To feel for none is the true social art
Of the world’s stoics—men without a heart.”
Source: DON JUAN
“But, after all, why not? And if so--why, if so, that would explain everything.”
Source: Murder on the Orient Express
“But after all, the villains are the salt in the soup of a story.”
Source: Inkspell
“But after all, what have we to do with taverns? Real menace belongs to the drawing-room.”
Source: A Room with a View
“But after being fired at once or twice, The ear becomes more Irish, and less nice.”
“But after being on the run I've learned a life spent creating enemies isn't worth leading. Having allies is the best advantage in the world.”
Source: The Enchantress Returns
“But after four years of marriage, Marian saw clearly how much a woman could tolerate when she was afraid. And Mariam was afraid.”
Source: A Thousand Splendid Suns
“But after he had been singing awhile, mist and shadows seemed to gather about him, sometimes coming out of the sea, and sometimes moving upon it. It seemed to him that one of the shadows was the queen-woman he had seen in her sleep at Slieve Echtge; not in her sleep now, but mocking, and calling out to them that were behind her: 'He was weak, he was weak, he had no courage.' And he felt the strands of the rope in his hand yet, and went on twisting it, but it seemed to him as he twisted, that it had all the sorrows of the world in it. And then it seemed to him as if the rope had changed in his dream into a great water-worm that came out of the sea, and that twisted itself about him, and held him closer and closer, and grew from big to bigger till the whole of the earth and skies were wound up in it, and the stars themselves were but the shining of the ridges of its skin. And then he got free of it, and went on, shaking and unsteady, along the edge of the strand, and the grey shapes were flying here and there around him. And this is what they were saying, 'It is a pity for him that refuses the call of the daughters of the Sidhe, for he will find no comfort in the love of the women of the earth to the end of life and time, and the cold of the grave is in his heart for ever. It is death he has chosen; let him die, let him die, let him die.”
Source: Stories of Red Hanrahan
“But after he was pleased to reveal himself to me I did presently, like Abraham, run to Hagar. And after that he did let me see the atheism of my own heart, for which I begged of the Lord that it might not remain in my heart.”
“But after I got them to leave and shut the door and turned off the light it wasn't any good. It was like saying good-by to a statue. After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.”
“But after it's all said and done, don't you want to grow old with your best friend? At the end of the day, that's who you want to share your life and laughter with. Someone who will be there in hard times to hold you tight. Someone who will fight for your honor and support your decisions. Someone who will encourage your dreams and help you to fulfill them.”
Source: Six Months
“But after living in Communist China for the past seventeen years, I knew that such a society was only a dream because those who seized power would invariably become the new ruling class. They would have the power to control the people’s lives and bend the people’s will. Because they controlled the production and distribution of goods and services in the name of the state, they would also enjoy material luxuries beyond the reach of the common people. In Communist China, details of the private lives of the leaders were guarded as state secrets. But every Chinese knew that the Party leaders lived in spacious mansions with many servants, obtained their provisions from special shops where luxury goods were made available to their household at nominal prices, and send their children in chauffeur-driven cars to exclusive schools to be taught by specially selected teachers. Even though every Chinese knew how these leaders lived, no one dared to talk about it. If we had to pass by a special shop for the military or high officials, we carefully looked the other way to avoid giving the impression we knew it was there.”
Source: Life and Death in Shanghai
“But after Mr. Evers got shot a week ago, lot a colored folk is frustrated in this town. Especially the younger ones, who ain't built up a callus yet.”
Source: The Help
“But after my death let it be known that in my old age, at the very end of my life, there was still plenty that made me smile.”
Source: My Name Is Red
“But, after one quick trace of his tongue between her lips, he abruptly pulled away and stepped back from her. She was leaning into him so hard he had to put his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
Catherine’s eyes flew open. Releasing her shoulders, he pointed past her to the books he’d set on the desk.
She opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again. As she followed Jim, she caught a glimpse of his profile when he picked up the books and slate. There was a smug grin on his face. He was toying with her, teaching her a lesson—that two could play at heating things up and abruptly cooling them down.
Indignation and amusement competed in her as she took her seat beside him and he handed her the paper he’d written. She hadn’t set him any homework. He’d done it on his own, printed a brief description of their picnic in short sentences or single words. It was
almost like a poem without rhyme. “Fish swim water. Sky. Trees. Leaves. Eat food. Drink.”
She smiled at him. “Very good.”
He touched his lips, puckering them in
a kiss, and tapped the signing book.
“Kiss,” she said and looked up the sign for it. “Fingers touching thumbs as both
hands come together,” the text said. Her cheeks flushed as she read, “trembling slightly to indicate the degree of passion.”
Catherine made the movement as she repeated the word aloud. “Kiss.”
Jim copied the movement, shaping his lips like hers. He pointed to the slate and offered her the chalk so she could spell the word. He studied each letter as she wrote it, before printing them himself: K-i-s-s.
Catherine’s cheeks flamed even hotter from seeing it written in glaring white against the black slate. Kiss. Kiss. Somehow there seemed to be no denying or hiding it now that it was written down. She glanced at Jim’s lips and her nipples tightened at the memory of
his mouth sucking them.”
Source: A Hearing Heart
“But after several hours, I go anyway, walking in silent sock feet, so as not to awaken the ghosts.”
Source: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3)
“But after that you don't see a lot of real good fundamental play. You see a showboat-type basketball which is almost parallel to street basketball.”
“But after that, turn it into action. Don't just dream.”
“But after the spirit of conquest had changed the first governments, all the succeeding ones have, in general, proved one continued series of injustice, which has reigned in all countries for almost four thousand years.”
“But after the time there I'd had it with fashion again, so I left to go to architecture school in a summer course at Harvard, which didn't last very long.”
“But after the war, when editors like Martin Durk came to prominence by trumpeting the timely death of the novel, Parish opted for a reflective silence. He stopped taking on projects and watched with quiet reserve as his authors died off one by one--at peace with the notion that he would join them soon enough in that circle of Elysium reserved for plot and substance and the judicious use of the semicolon.”
Source: Rules of Civility
“But after thinking a minute she said, "No, I cain't leave the gulls, the heron, the shack. The marsh is all the family I got.”
Source: Where the Crawdads Sing
“But after this natural burst of indignation, no man of sense, courage, or prudence will waste his time or his strength in retrospective reproaches or repinings.”
“But after years of teaching, we have decided that a lot of mothers just aren't reading textbooks.”
Source: Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way
“But afterall it's not the winning that matters, is it? Or is it? It'sto coinawordtheamenitiesthatcount: thesmell of the dandelions, the puff of the pipe, the click of the bat, the rain on the neck, the chill down the spine, the slow, exquisite coming on of sunset and dinner and rheumatism.”
“But afterwards, is there nothing more for me in life - no true home - nothing to be dearer to me than myself?”
Source: Villette
“But again and again there comes a time in history when the man who dares to say that two and two make four is punished with death. The schoolteacher is well aware of this. And the question is not one of knowing what punishment or reward attends the making of this calculation. The question is one of knowing whether two and two do make four”
Source: The Plague
“But again and again, we should reflect back to the darkness of the cocoon. In order to inspire ourselves forward, we must look back to see the contrast with the place we came from. You see, we cannot reject the world of the cocoon - which out which we may create a new cocoon. When we see the suffering that occured in the old cocoon, that inspires us to go forward in our journey of warriorship. It is a journey that is unfolding within us.”
“But again, I put in my time with Marvel and DC so there was that period of my life of trying to learn how to draw and tell stories in a proper fashion.”
“But again, we, I think, over the years have set the example for a lot of nations that may not have had the same values, the same type of coming out of the same culture that we as Americans have and enjoy. But we can be an example, a role model to them.”
“But against love, the case was solid. Easily argued. And you could, indeed, hold it in your hand.”
Source: This Lullaby
“but ah'm hugging Janey and thinking about how much a life can change in the time it takes tae fix up.”
Source: Skagboys
“But ah! disasters have their use; And life might e'en be too sunshiny.”
Source: Fly Leaves
“But ah, to fish with a worm, and then not catch your fish! To fail with a fly is no disgrace: your art may have been impeccable, your patience faultless to the end. But the philosophy of worm-fishing is that of results, of having something tangible in your basket when the day's work is done.”
Source: Fishing with a Worm
“But Akos wasn't "nice"; that was just what people said about quite people”
Source: Carve the Mark
“But al be that he was a philosophre, Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre.”
“But Al Jazeera America represents something more than news that isn’t profit or ratings driven — they represent foreign investment in a country where the two-party system outsourced your jobs. They represent facts over opinion and they represent our cultures coming together just a little more, whether you bigots like it or not.”
“But Aladdin says nothing.
Instead, he lowers his face and softly kisses the side of my neck, his mouth trailing up to the skin behind my ear. Goose bumps break across my skin, and I turn my face to meet his lips with mine. This kiss is gentler than our last, long and slow and restrained. It is a kiss of longing. A kiss of farewell. His hands tighten around my waist, pulling me against him. We drift in a slow circle, sending out ripples that make the floating flowers bob and dip.
“You keep so many secrets,” he murmurs. “I could spend the rest of my life discovering you.” He tucks my hair behind my ear, his eyes devouring my face.”
Source: The Forbidden Wish
“But alas! Firemen [stoking a ship] are not what they were. The gor-blimey firemen of the coal-burning days must, I think, be a diminishing species and in these degenerate times, when ships burn oil, the firemen is rapidly becoming a perfect gentleman, which is a pity …. Yet all was not quite lost in 1932, since one of them, … finding an altercation with the cook becoming beyond his powers of argument, upheld tradition and ‘drew him off a Burton.’ In other words, he knocked him out for the count.”
“But alas for the dreams that round us play! / For the plans of mortal making! / And alas for the false and fickle day / That looked so fair at waking!”
Source: The Poetical Works of Alice and Phoebe Cary
“But, alas! I feel it too sadly. I am alone the cause of my own woe, am I not? Truly, my own bosom contains the source of all my sorrow, as it previously contained the source of all my pleasure.”
Source: The Sorrows of Young Werther
“But alas, my dear child, we are the slaves of custom, the dupes of prejudice, and dare not stem the torrent of the opposing world, even though our judgments condemn our compliance! However, since the die is cast, we must endeavor to make the best of it.”
Source: Evelina
“But alas! My father, 0 my father! My people, 0 my people! My God, 0 my God! Release me from this too great trial and tribulation,, for it is greater than I can bear.”
Source: Queen Esther, a Purim play, by Donald Bain. 1917 [Leather Bound]
“But, alas, nobody anticipated the United States Department of Homeland Security.”
Source: An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist
“But alas! this kind heart had but a short time to remain such. The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.”
Source: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
“But alas! Like many another consummation devoutly to be wished, the actual performance was a disappointing one.”
Source: The Immortal Games of Capablanca
“But alas! Science cannot now rescue us, for even the scientist is lost in the terrible midnight of our age. Indeed, science gave us the very instruments that threaten to bring universal suicide.”
Source: Strength to Love
“But alas, if I have not maintained my victory, it is God's fault for not making man and the devil of equal strength.”